If you do a clean install on top of the existing installation, without formatting, the user data will be backed up automatically to a folder called Windows.old, located in the C drive.
I got a family pack where I could install Windows 7 on 3 different computers. See if you can find that. I wonder if that was only a limited time offer right when Windows 7 came out.
I had 2 Vista machines [desktop and laptop]. I did a clean install on my desktop and an upgrade on my laptop. I've had little trouble with 7 at all, but the machine that has given me more trouble was the desktop where I did the clean install... for what it's worth. But a clean install makes more sense because you are starting over and any kind of unknown bugs would be gone with the fresh install.
I'd like to know where you guys got the idea that you lose all your data came from doing a clean install of 7 from XP, but it's incorrect... I've done a number of clean installs, from XP to 7 HP, and unless you did a reformat of your drive, the folders that you had before are still in place! I had folders for iPod movies, music, pictures, and others, not in a user folder, that were still intact after I did "clean" installs from XP.
If you are moving from 32bit XP to 64bit 7, yeah, sure, changing the file format would -86 your data, but just a clean install from XP to 7 is not going to erase your drive and everything on it. i'm jus' sayin'...
Thanks so much for the advice. I really appreciate your time.
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